


The Girl From Ba Sing Se

by TeaRoses



Category: Avatar: The Last Airbender
Genre: F/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-01-08
Updated: 2013-01-08
Packaged: 2017-11-24 03:56:56
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,160
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/630125
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/TeaRoses/pseuds/TeaRoses
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Iroh tells Ming a very personal story about Ba Sing Se before the war... or is it about something else?<br/>Originally written for springkink on LiveJournal, for the prompt:  "jailhouse romance - 'I have something special for you today.'"</p>
            </blockquote>





	The Girl From Ba Sing Se

“I have something special for you today.”

The Dragon of the West was huddled in the corner as usual, awake but drooling slightly. She always thought his eyes were a little brighter when he saw her, though.

Ming passed the food through the bars. There was meat along with the rice, and even a sweet. She could probably get in trouble for that, but she felt this prisoner deserved better than what he got. Her father had always said, when only family was listening, that the Fire Nation would have been a much better place if Prince Iroh had inherited the throne as he was meant to.

She knew there was no use appealing to her supervisors for better care for him, though. Once she had mentioned that a healer should visit Iroh, as he seemed so confused, but they had told her that he had always been a crazy old man and she should be quiet if she wanted to keep her job. So she had remained silent, mostly because she needed her pay so badly but also because she could do more for Iroh this way.

Today he actually moved, standing and walking over to the bars, but he didn’t touch the food. He just looked into Ming’s eyes.

“How are you today?” he asked her.

Iroh spoke to her differently than he did to the other guards, even the other women. He seemed more alert; Ming was certain of it. 

“I’m fine! And Dao is well also.” Sometimes Iroh didn’t remember her little brother, but other times he’d ask for news of Dao. Today he only smiled.

“Good, good.”

“And you? Are you all right? Are the other guards treating you well?” That would be a dangerous question if anyone overheard it. But Ming might be able to do something if someone had broken a rule. Fire Lord Ozai wanted his brother kept alive.

“I’m fine,” he said in his calm voice. “I’m just here with my memories.”

“Memories?” Ming asked, grasping the bars of cell and looking in at him.

He reached up and put a hand over one of hers. “Yes… an old man can still remember now and then.”

As Ming watched, he closed his eyes. “I remember Ba Sing Se. Not the siege… before, when I visited in disguise.”

“You visited there in disguise?” she asked.

“Many times. I told myself I was scouting out the territory, but really I was scouting out the women.”

Ming laughed, and Iroh joined her.

“What was I talking about?” he asked, his eyes glazing over again for a moment.

She worried that the story would stop then, but Iroh seemed to recover himself a little.

“Yes… I was young and handsome then. And the ladies of Ba Sing Se were so beautiful.”

“And did you have a special lady there?” she asked, unable to resist.

“Oh yes. Her name was Ming.” The pressure of his hand on hers increased, and she began to wonder if this story was about a woman of the earth tribe after all.

“She was tall, and slim, with long straight hair, and the most beautiful eyes. And she worked in a tea shop, because her parents were dead and she had to support her little brother.”

“And his name was Dao?” asked Ming.

“Ah, I don’t remember that,” said Iroh, still not opening his eyes. “But one night I took her dancing. Can you imagine it, me dancing?”

She could imagine it, and she closed her eyes now to see it better.

“Ming moved so beautifully, and I could see how pretty her form was, under her dress. I couldn’t resist pulling her close to me and kissing her, even though everyone was watching.”

Behind the bars, Ming’s face grew warm, but she had no thought of leaving. “Some things are impossible to do, if the wrong people are watching,” she murmured.

“There is a beautiful place in Ba Sing Se, a fountain with lights, and as we walked by there, I asked Ming to come to my bed with me. Because as I said, I was young and handsome then, and I could get away with such questions.”

“And did she say yes?” Ming asked.

“What do you think?” Iroh asked.

“I’m sure she did,” said Ming.

“We went back to my room, and I can tell you that neither of us was very shy, not in those days. And she was so beautiful, naked in the candlelight.”

Ming began to breathe faster. “Really?”

“I suppose she thought I was a handsome man, too.”

“Of course she did.” Ming saw it in her mind, her own body lying alongside Iroh, who did not look particularly young in her mind but rather the way he might look now if only they would give him a chance to take proper care of himself.

“We spent what seemed like hours in my bed, just thinking of nothing else but pleasuring each other. My only regret was that she called me by another name, because of course I couldn’t tell her my name was Iroh.”

She pictured the feel of his skin under her hands now, and squeezed his fingers. “Iroh…” she murmured.

“I still remember the way her hands felt, her lips, all the ways she responded to me. I never had another night like that in my life, and I have been lucky enough to have a very long life.”

Ming’s heart was pounding slightly. She could imagine Iroh’s body against hers so clearly now that it was all she could to not to reach for him through the bars.

“And I suppose I have another regret, because she had to leave my bed to get back to her brother, rather than pass the entire night in my arms.”

“And you never saw her again?” asked Ming, reluctantly opening her eyes to look at the walls of the jail.

“What do you think?”

“I think you will see her again someday. I think you will even lie with her again someday, if you want to.”

Then her supervisor called from the other room. “Ming, are you finished feeding the prisoner?”

“Yes!” she said, stepping back from the bars with regret.

Iroh grabbed for his food and hid in the corner again as she left. She did not dare to say anything else to him, because she didn’t want anyone to overhear.

“Is he well?” the supervisor asked her when she entered the main room.

“As well as can be expected,” she said.

He nodded. “He’s insane, but he’s still breathing. Fire Lord Ozai would approve.”

A warbling voice came in from the other room, and Ming’s supervisor sighed and rolled his eyes. “He’s singing again. Go on in to other wing, where you won’t have to hear him.”

Ming nodded, and walked toward the other door, with Iroh’s voice following her.

“You’ve really got to meet the girls from Ba Sing Se…”


End file.
